The Viterbo Revolts
The Viterbo Revolts were a series of revolts which help brought the end of Rovina's regime, and nearly collapsed the entirety of the south of Itaterra. Ostensibly, it was fought from 1986-2001. However, most of the revolts occurred from 1986-1994. The rebels were fighting against Rovina's regime, but did not believe in the new kingdom after Rovina. Background Bernardino Giacomo Aliprandi '(born April 7, 1959, died January 2, 1992) was the rebel leader in the south of Itaterra. He led an army up to 240,000 strong, and was able to secure Rome, Viterbo, and many small towns and villages. He had protested the Frietson kings when Rovina began asserting major influence over them. He was an avid anti-communist, believing that they were ruining the national identity of Itaterra. When the ''Republic Act of 1984 was passed, Aliprandi founded the '''Viterbo National Liberation Army (ELNV). He went into hiding in Rome, and by the March of 1986, had over 60,000 members of the ELNV. Insurgency Opening Phase (1986-1987) When Aliprandi began his insurgency, the mobilization of all ELNV members took over 3 weeks, much longer than the planned 2 days. However, Aliprandi was still able to take Rome because of the minor police garrison, small size of Rovina's military due to lack of NATO support, and the peoples' predisposition to revolutionary thought. By September, nearly all of Rome had been secured by Aliprandi, and he was beginning to make plans to move to the coast to secure the ability to import munitions from the black market. However, in the December of 1986, Aliprandi had to deal with serious set backs, mostly due to increased military pressure from Rovina. He had lost most of Rome in 1987, and Rovina was confident in victory. From January to June of 1987, the revolt had slowed down, and the ELNV became stretched thin. During this time, from the north of Rome, the city of Viterbo became heavily influenced by the revolutionary spirit of Rome. Aliprandi had delegated many generals who worked under him to help organize rebellions in the city. Even before the rebellion had started, there had been many rebel leaders independent of Aliprandi who were fighting against Rovina. However, many of these were crushed by the militia leader, Perrodo Malcianobbici. In 1986, Malcianobbici joined the Itaterran army, even though he still acted as a separate entity. From 1986 to the October of 1987, Malcianobbici and rebel leaders in the city fought each other, and the victor was typically temporarily, and quickly overthrown by the other side. Each side had about 15,000 men. Resurgence (1987-1988) In July of 1987, multiple factors changed the course of the revolt. Firstly, the much less known Cirino Serafini, who worked under the command of Aliprandi, was able to single-handedly capture trading routes to black markets. In addition, Rovina was beginning to rack up serious debt, forcing him to make cuts to the Itaterran military. These factors combined allowed for the resurgence of Aliprandi as a powerful leader, allowing him gain many more supporters. When winter came, Aliprandi, along with many of his generals who worked under him, was able to generate a serious gain in support, and his rebellion grew from the 100,000, which had been built up over the first 2 years, to a strong 240,000. With Rovina's lack of interest in fighting in the south, Aliprandi was able to move in secret in the winter months of 1987, and unite with rebel forces in Viterbo. Aliprandi was able to move through and occupy large swaths of territory in the south of Itaterra, and also occupying trade routes. However, Malcianobbici was able to call to attention the seriousness of the situation in the forgotten south of Rovina's country, and occupation had been lifted by the July of 1988. At this point, Aliprandi had racked up serious debt from his black market trade, and the cost of occupying Rome. His situation became desperate, and therefore, he attempted to force Rovina into submission quickly. However, his planned re-occupation of Viterbo was ultimately a failure, leaving Viterbo as the most revolutionary city which wasn't occupied. Rome had begun to resent his occupation, and his administrative failures demonstrated his lack of power. Warlords' Seizure of Rome (1988-1991) With the weakening of Aliprandi as the rebel leader, his commanders began digging underneath him in an attempt to capture him and use his authority for their own gain. On April 17, 1989, Aliprandi was captured by Erasmo Bencivenni, one of the men who helped Aliprandi occupy Rome so quickly. Bencivenni forced Aliprandi to make a public television broadcast, in which he stated: "Members of the Viterbo National Liberation Army: It is your duty to protect our cause. Because of my recent actions, I must now nominate Erasmo Bencivenni to become the Commander-in-Chief of the ELNV. We trust that you understand us and cooperate with our new leadership." Serafini, a loyal supporter of Aliprandi, believed that he had been captured, and quickly moved to execute Serafini and his allies. On May 2, 1989, Serafini captured Bencivenni and executed him. However, capture of Aliprandi would move back and forth between warlords until December 3, 1990, when the Itaterran army attempted to liberate Rome. This forced Serafini to take command, and although they had lost many supplies and went further into debt, they were able to keep Rome under their control. Serafini eventually lost his powers, and 15 of the strongest warlords in the ELNV divided Rome amongst themselves (corresponding to each administrative division) in the Treaty of Municipi, signed on August 10, 1991. A final assault with a coalition of the 15 warlords was launched on Viterbo with nearly 300,000 men combined, however, many of these men were ill-equipped and the 1991 Battle of Viterbo ended with more than 100,000 casualties from the rebel side alone. After this battle, Serafini captured Aliprandi, and, against his orders, Aliprandi was executed. This led to enormous division between warlords, which was unrecoverable. End of the Revolt (1991-1994) Due to the division between warlords, the shrinking size of the ELNV, the crippling debt of it, the instability of it, Rome went under an extremely long siege from December 30, 1991 - August 8, 1993. It included 160,000 rebels fighting 400,000 Itaterran soldiers. In the end, Itaterra pushed into half of Rome, only being relieved by the collapse of the Rovina Dictatorship. Continued Fighting (1994-2001) Rome had been ostensibly liberated, however, it was largely still occupied by rebel forces in 7 out of 15 administrative divisions. When Rome was fully liberated in March 7, 1996, many of the rebels moved to Viterbo, where the last rebels had fought a guerrilla war against the new Kingdom of Itaterra. They modeled themselves after Aliprandi, and kept fighting until January 3, 2001, when the last warlord leader, Orfeo Capello, surrendered to the Itaterran government.